CHAPTER
12.-- THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT

12/23/16

A.INTRODUCTION

Because its personnel are
removed from normal community life, where the local church functions, the United
States military establishment is a mission field. Life in the military is often
temporary, service is filled with frequent relocations, ie, about 3 years, unusual, and impersonal. There is loss of identity and privacy with
resultant loneliness. Irregular duty hours make involvement in church and
community life difficult, and boredom makes it easy to participate in drinking,
drugs, gambling, and prostitution. Defense Department surveys indicate that 7
percent of those in the army regularly use marijuana and other narcotics. A greater number use and
abuse alcohol as a form of cheap entertainment.

Uncle Sam, since 1981, has
allowed military casinos to be opened on 94 overseas bases, where military
personnel and employees spend a billion dollars annually gambling on base. It is
considered a safe alternative to off base gambling, even though Pentagon
studies show that at least two percent of service persons ‘possess indicators of
probable pathological gambling’. [p.36 US News and World Report, May 2002]

Since our country has been
inundated with internationals who have brought with them their non-Christian
religions and our government has adopted the concept that all religions are
equal, the military chaplaincy now may include members of each of the
non-Christian religions. The latest addition to ‘chaplaincy personnel’ is that
of a ‘pagan resource person’ to minister to soldiers who are “Wiccans, Odinists
or followers of other Earth-centered belief systems.”

Gaylord Chizum, director
of Servicemen's New Life Center, observes that the military is a most neglected
mission field. Even with godly chaplains and sound local pastors, most
servicemen go through military service and the nearby community without
encountering a definite, personal witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.

B.EXTENT OF OPPORTUNITY

American military personnel
in 2016 numbered 1.3 million, including 180,000 women, half of
whom are Blacks and 10% are Hispanic. Around the
bases other thousands of military families live temporarily, thereby creating a
potential mission field of 3,000,000. Military installations are to be found in
every state. Some of the bases were originally forts established during the
early founding years of the nation. The army [466,000,
navy [319,000], and marines [137,000] were created by the Continental Congress
in 1775. The Air Force [290,000] was added in 1926. Reserves # 800,000.

Half of the women in the
service are married, with most of them married to civilian husbands. Seventy
three percent of the married women have children. Twelve percent of service
personnel are married with both spouses in the service. Career service is twenty
years, but most only stay in for 10 years. About 2.5% of military are gay or
lesbian.

Every state has a National
Guard. The guardsmen are reservists that trace their history back to the militia
of 1636; therefore, they are the oldest military force. They can be activated by
the governor of the state or in national emergency by the president. The Guard
includes both the Army [6,700]and Air National Guard [1,400].

In addition to the
regulars of each branch of the service, there are reservists [.8 million]. It
is necessary to add to those the Coast Guard [39,000], which was inaugurated in
1790. In a disaster, even the Civil Air Patrol can be activated. Most American
military personnel are stationed on bases stateside, for only 255,000 are
assigned overseas in 148 nations including 43,000 at sea on one of the Navy's
200 active combatant vessels. The opportunity for missionary activity is large
and widespread in every state.

C.CHRISTIAN SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

The United States
government provides 2,800 chaplains for its servicemen stationed on a
hundred bases. If the chaplains were evenly distributed, each would have a
parish of 700 military personnel, in addition to 1,000 military dependents
living nearby. But some chaplains are responsible for as many as 3,000 men and
their dependents. [2014 military considering doing away with Chaplains Corp?].

The government recruits
chaplains through the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces, which
represents 249 recognized religious groups, including Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, Pagans and cults. Each representative group can
recommend a number of chaplains commensurate with the percentage of the general
populace the group holds. Islam for instance has a dozen Muslim military
chaplains, serving 4200 Muslims on active duty serving in the military, mostly
blacks, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Arabs and Caucasians. In 2003, it was
discovered that these Muslim chaplains were too often militant and involved in
subversive activity. Chaplains are being chosen from the Wahhabi branch of Sunni
Islam, versus the moderate Shiite.

Chaplains work under
serious limitations. They must minister to men of different faiths. Facilities
are often limited. Work schedules are hectic. They are often rotated every two
years and usually move with the outfit wherever it goes.

Some local churches near
military bases have developed visitation programs on the bases and provide
transportation from the base to the church. Church families often invite
personnel home for Sunday dinner and fellowship in the afternoon.

Christian Servicemen's
Centers began in 1941 in Illinois as
a Christian counterpart of the United Service Organization (USO) centers. The
USO organization is a federation of six volunteer agencies that mobilizes
civilians to serve the needs of servicemen. The Christian Servicemen's Centers
are established by missionaries who are concerned to win servicemen to Christ
and train them as witnesses to win their buddies. The centers also function as
homes away from home by providing a place for servicemen to go when they have
free time.

There are sixty centers
in the United States listed in the worldwide Directory of Christian Servicemen's
Centers. The centers are located in twenty-two states and function under
different names, such as the Salt Cellar and Fisherman's Wharf. In some
instances there is a chain of centers with the same name, such as Christian
Servicemen's Centers and Missions to the Military. Keith Davey of Missions to
the Military observes that a servicemen's center affords today's military man
the best opportunity available for the help and encouragement he needs.

In 1933 Dawson Trotman,
stationed aboard the battleship West Virginia, began a ministry known as
Navigators. He led servicemen to Christ and then trained them in the Word of
God to disciple others after the admonition of 2 Timothy 2:2. By the time of
World War II, there were 1,000 Navigators serving on ships and on shore. In 1949
the ministry became international in scope. Today, in the United States alone,
153 Navigator staffs serve on 111 military bases as well as on 160 college
campuses and 75 cities in various community ministries.

Within the services are
two fellowships of Christian servicemen. The Officer's Christian Fellowship
[1943] is an organization of 3,300 Christian officers who desire to present the
gospel to 250,000 men in the officers corp. The sister organization is the
Christian Military Fellowship, which promotes Christian outreach to military
personnel who are not officers.

Within the U.S. Navy a
group of concerned Christian men collect the names and addresses of Christian
personnel and distribute them in a publication entitled Link-Up. By means
of this information Christians can find others in their command. Information can
be obtained from Navy Christian Link-Up, P.O. Box 9635, Norfolk, VA 23505.

Preaching to military is
often butone among many programs of the ministering organization. Baptist
Mid-Missions sustains a military ministry. The Prison Mission Association
has a servicemen's division. Pacific Garden Mission caters to the
military as well as to alcoholics. The Gideons, although not a mission
organization, presents free Bibles to members of the military. The Christian
Businessmen'sCommittee, along with its many ministries, sponsors
servicemen's centers.

The missionary to the
military will face several challenging circumstances. If there is a chaplain on
the base he may not welcome the ministry or the missionary. The missionary may
have difficulty gaining access to the base. He will have to adjust to constantly
changing military schedules. He will face the unique problems experienced by
uprooted singles and families constantly in transition.

The average age of all
military personnel is 26. Fourteen percent of service persons are black, which
is three percentage points above the national average. Women now constitute 8
percent of the military. All those factors influence the ministry of a
missionary.

The American military
services are a responsive mission field according to Charles Cassety, a veteran
now serving as a regional representative of Philadelphia College of the Bible.
Their unique circumstances provide the alert believer with unlimited
opportunities for witness and discipleship.